Wednesday, March 25, 2015
March 26, 2015 THURSDAY, 5th Week of Lent
March 26, 2015 THURSDAY, 5th Week of Lent
Violet
Gn 17: 3 – 9 / Jn 8: 51 - 59
Reading: Gn 17: 3 – 9
Abram fell face down and God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will you be called Abram, but Abraham, because I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you more and more famous; I will multiply your descendants; nations shall spring from you, kings shall be among your descendants. And I will establish a covenant, an everlasting covenant between myself and you and your descendants after you; from now on I will be your God and the God of your descendants after you, for generations to come.
Gospel: Jn 8: 51 - 59
Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never experience death." The Jews replied, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died and the prophets as well, but you say: 'Whoever keeps my word will never experience death.' Who do you claim to be? Do you claim to be greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets also died."
Then Jesus said, "If I were to praise myself, it would count for nothing. But he who gives glory to me is the Father, the very one you claim as your God, although you don't know him. I know him and if I were to say that I don't know him, I would be a liar like you. But I know him and I keep his word.
"As for Abraham, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come; and he rejoiced when he saw it."
The Jews then said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" And Jesus said "Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." They then picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and left the Temple.
Reflection
In the Gospel reading, Jesus claims that a person will never experience death if that person keeps his word. Moreover, if Jesus could make such a claim, then he also claims he will not die.
If that were true, the Jews argue, then Jesus is greater than Abraham and all the prophets who all died. Jesus makes a rebuttal to this, "As for Abrahamn, your ancestor, he looked forward to the day when I would come, and he rejoiced when he saw it."
To which the Jews countered, "You are not yet fifty years old and you have seen Abraham?" To which Jesus replies, "Truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." "I am" is the name given by God to Moses at the burning bush; "I am" is God's unique name. Jesus therefore formally claims that he is not only human, but also God! Scandalized at what they considered blasphemous, "they then picked up stones to throw at him" and to kill him. "But Jesus hid himself and left the Temple."
Do you believe that God incarnated himself in Jesus? That Jesus was human he was limited, finite and imperfect; he can make mistakes; he can be angry, exasperated, suffer and die.
If you do not believe that Jesus was God Incarnate, then you are like the Jews who picked up stones to reject and kill him. If you cannot believe that Jesus was God Incarnate, then you probably cannot also accept your being human yourself?
WE PRAY FOR MTQ DAILY PRAYER DIARY INTENTIONS:
BIRTHDAY
CARLO L. ESEO
LIZA ROMANA
REYNA ROSE P. MANONOG
TOMY DEO P. CABINTA
OTHER INTENTIONS:
For the special and thanksgiving intentions of Beny Chua.
For Emaline, who Is suffering from bi-polar disorder and is in deep depression.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
**************************************************
These reflections are distributed free and are for personal use only. Feel free to send the Daily Prayer reflections to your friends, colleagues and relatives; however, if you do, please include the following:
+================================================+
| The Daily Prayer, a service and an apostolate of the
| priests, laity and friends of Mary the Queen Parish
| distributed free and for personal use only.
+================================================+
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GoogleGroup Address: http://groups.google.com/group/daily_homily
Archive: http://biblereflection.blogspot.com/
To subscribe from this free mailing service, send email to: dailyhomily@earthlink.net
To unsubscribe: daily_homily-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
© 2014 Daily-Homily
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "DAILY-HOMILY" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to daily_homily+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
